History of printing and publishing in India-a story of cultural re-awakening_Volume 1 [Volume 1]

Citation preview

II

3LYT�ffe85�6?Sf , �ioNrrLD.2.J�Y L-UJ6"'1"¥.l" - r;;urr4��a.©,1.0�qj5,a;,r.t:t:J,,-l'i(!".!3mL--u.iOlJfi!iLD'TG'ST

1"-'li�IF> r;rrarur ul!i� ..!!'JGwrr4��ffi(Fpt.0

'------"-·�_·"-_1�,,�rri:1:.r-")_;!!iJ_· _____

'u.a,,:u...s��i!i8ul'.,.o;G1f1..1'Tfi;.J:t !' T'J,,,f...,-W'l''-f-..J �.1,;; ....

· Google

L,fj,51 ? .. _. ....,.•,t;"Q.. �T� ,, :.., ..iT£';:·, ,.,•r'ft,."'-,::_...,. '" .c;,•

JNIVEII.! TYOFM :HI ,AN

.ASJl

l»'

\W\���l ��,: ��� -.,��i'!o�':JMIVJJtl!� JJJI I

8 6'91#"!' Jv-h

q;v JJ 11m�J

�

I

·itr,-.nn•

J!#fnl�IW�,6#

�ro?J- (ij) (5

! r? .!I JJ m 619. mi,»�,_,.1, I .11rn : �1J.IJ -9 I

,r..worf°'D

iiC""

1/JJ•••JJr•T!F

1

! .f i?f!Jq/ �,:zr

'!1q/�.1f9t9 ,wn

1-

)i'••rno.U(W"fd'l} '8 .y ,,,,,i1!E'�'f re�

° "!./JR ,a»-;,•., 0

;

• rne1ntoMQ"61f' print=J B Prin.osc. London, l\l40). n

rrtt": ;; ;;:i:;:;���:�

.•.

A book out.standing in e\"el)' sense of the WO£d \\'hich has been internationally acclaimed as a tou,. de force is the mOSl famous publication lo ha,� issued from Goa "'Coloqu/o$ dos simples, edrogas .. uposto& peiJo Doutor gr-acia dorts: . . . . /mpresso em Goa, por toamu:s de endem as Xdias de Abril de 1563 anfl06'. It Ls worthwhile qUOting Primrose on the signi ficance of this book: "This work has the distinction of being lamous OO( only as a bibliographical rarity, but al;;o for the inherem interest: and imponaoce of its bcxanical and medical knowledge. It contain s al5o a commendalory poem. the first of its works to be primed, composed by the famous Portuguese na1ional !X>et Luis de Camoens. v.-ho was at that time employed in government senice in India. The \vork Ls V1Tiaen in 1he fonn of CO!l\�rsa1ions between the author and a Dr Ruano, whose name is .supposed 10 be the equi,-.ilenc of "E\'el)'IIWl' in Old Portuguese. The conversations were translated by the late Sir Oerncnts Markham under the title of Co/Joq11ies on the Simples and Dmgs of India and published by Sootheran in 1913 and primed by Joao de Eodem" 1ne copy of this book is at the British Mll5eum and Boxer anJIOlltes it in his Check·liSl under Item 7, pp 571-573. There are 25 rccoroed

•Ne,,.,YOO-

llll:§ ,..

.Iii

� ...._c,..::,o11 "'1_.,.._H•_.

a""-�G••�IJJ!l�...a,--.• ......�,,.. .,�ff,&fl'�., .,.,.. ..,, .... w .• • ,..,, ,,, ..,. . .. .. #i:w--.-.. .. t•>

e•'c4 a...e•.. U. c ao....kr ....... .. ....... I r.....e. J • ...... ( &J ,o•auliwaH._,. Ht _,.__ ..-.... to,_

..,...........

.......... (111111.) ................

••

Ut�.4-• , f�,.t,. . • o.a. TeMaflaitt."!'6r�I"!', ......._., 1111• (-J-. . ........, t. To ,__,,,.. ;.op,...c, · 0,,..,_,_,.._ •. c.n.lMJ,•1•••..._ ,..._ ,. T •h• __.. _. .......,.., e.. a. T o ....rai....... IN

..... •.-...- .,,� ... Deil1, .... • .. 1 g, -• .-. 0 �.._., A...,..., kll•k•, Uw It w.1... . .. _ ....._......._ a. ...flaa1ush , ......,__.,....,. (IL)

.....

•,•..U04... ...._ -''"rtt.la... ,. �-...M••• .,.. T,._.., t. Joi...._ s.,0.-.1111,.tw,._..,..,... - "' .............. Cllllllc&W .... "' pu1 ..... ......,,. 41,..,-.-,.Qucettd t, O.W. �. '- (>,J . 0.. akuM• •· •.­ � _, 11i-,.-N• n. ,_

......

..

· -T--.... 1··--·-· ' , (•._.... .._. a $ W... ""· ·· �·� I. (• -)

� .. ..... fl? .....I� .... I ••I a M't; ..... I ....,._ In ..., t -�a, � ·-oe,lO IM1 J , --. ..... a. -. c...a..a..Ulw1 I ._,.. .......I I.

1.... .. ......... .,-1k

11.,... ti 1.lld111 f. �. ,,...; ..b ... .

.... o•-.a-.1. A �...---.

•

-·-�r••ut,.. ...�................ ., .,,,........ ........ ..... ,. ........-.-u

........... .. • ,.,.,..... ,............ - •• 11,1.....,.., ffllf'ri..... , 1'W .....J.. ,_,. &. Ow.fft!-.. .e.111,i,tfl.,..,-�.r• .,.,.,._., .t • ,...., ,,_ ,.O• ,,� ._., ....ti...... , � ......, ..... "-WWw • ..,. .. ........, ••k� ,- a. ' Ille ..,.._. ...._ ..... L AIM,wfii,tt,,oifll.0--, (•} ........... 1. priad,-1 ......- . "' · .. HJ. Nuu­ n 1•. A ,._ 1• _...., l'iUlfl' _.. •tl/llVJIUl, - Da.:IJ, HMi-UJ, •,.,......._ , tW • '""'91fW. • � ..,o..,_, ll, 0.W, 0.. • . IL A-,,-. TM 1o,.. .. a.i-,. 1M •IJ�.;,. c ,.,_ ,\'.,.w.) , � .,-.,.,.,..__ fl'11.t ..,...,•._U ) ...... wet· . tuftlaf,,.......,....._ .. •WU,. :r.w. .,� T ,, A,...;,..,.;_._••, -,rl, •. .. •• ...,._, ·•�.Q"�· .. a,.. " a. ft..a .... �a.h •pript, ••••• tit •-...... . , ....... ......_-. --...,e0 Ir.pr. .,.... , ................, . •p,-�UJ.:.•w••• -,. To N •• tin... Wwtrt\A C1M'10C._ ·�.,.Dolt,,1... ,,.......... II...... «e_.e,.-.a ••,CII

· =�. �·· .,_ . .,. . ,. ............,,,.,...,,,.

.._e,• T\e ,_,., el lM lafo,�J ...W.. t"'1soA•u W. p . ••�, Wn11,� • 1

0 .. ,,-. . ,.

H .. L.- ,

_..,..... ....

•,•"11••-•1•••,.-•�-

� . ,. Ko-.•._. 11.,.,. 4.,..._ .,.• .......,. ,._ ,- Mao ,..._ _.._ lll,IGt.111,

f.

o.14 NiM twf •fl,

"".......--• · I.(....) ·.;-&.J�• ... c.n.i.n, __..,_.._._. ,. N « , .,.:Ii� -1 ...._ apri 2 - �•-•- ,-.,n A., 41M.. flf�e, •• : . ... l!t, .. �t S t,I ALln. o ••; ··� 1A, .... (-,,"'1,.;,. ., 6.4_.,,.,J,) .,,, ,6 ....... ,,., i...,, ....ty. fil\Ws,,Oa•• I.Mil,..,..,. ...... ,,._,., .. ..... .....___ ,.,,... , ., A ....a, ..-c,-i, . ,. Dail1 ,i ... , .....,

.............

........... -.1 - .

T, .. 11e,fiM.

0 ,......11................

��- a . U.,

....

rstns. _.

...•

·-,-.,�·-._ u.iJr •II .UN ...-k1 .,_., • .;,..,_, ,.

(,....,)

Cuet•.S

,.._-.,_..,_., ,. Dan, r hea, ,... .,n...., • .....-..• ,. --. .

11:e ••••aha w.W;are. iJ,, , . ..... •

a•••

.,.

...

·�,.,,.·-· , . (ii C'6rut• ...,..) � a. C1111.e _...,__ fKI7•11•...,W. o.u,.........._ ,_.

........ ...

�,..,,._....

...

.,.,,,�-,,;,. s. 1...-..1 HII I J, •.,,;,, ,. .,,._••

....

n.11:ow .................. IIJ• ...... ... ,

. . ...............

·����...... DMlr, ....... ,_. 2·, ' ....., .... ,... 6tW

-

.-;jllru.:,...._., a.

C 7E ....

Facsimile from Winslow's Dictionary Digi ti zed by

Google

Or ig inal from

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

• Developments in the Nineteenth Century

T

HE consolidation of British power in the South after the chaotic situation prevalent in the Camatic during the Anglo-French and Anglo-Mysore Wars resulted in the establishment o f the railways, the University of Madras, many educational and social institutions and a concomitant factor in this stabilisation must have been the printing press with movable types in important towns of the Tamil country.

The Emergence of Tamil Journals

A remarkable phenomenon during this period was the emergence of many journals. Dr Kamil Zvelebil, a living Czech scholar of Tamil, in his book The Smile of Murngan published by EJ Brill at Leiden in J973, is convinced that the cwo most important preconditions for the origin and growth of modem popular prose and fiction in the Tamil country are because of printing and journalism.

The Namre of Early Printed Tamil Works

When one takes stock of the narure of early printed Tamil works, in prose, we find that the earliest phase occupied itself in the printing of the translation of Sanskrit epics and Tamil versions o f traditional stories. Then followed some translations from the Eng.lish and French languages. John Bunyan's Pilgrim's �ess was translated into Tamil and printed in 1799 and Shakespeare's work appeared in prose translation towards the end o f the nineteenth century.

New Trends Though the traditional scholars were busy with the production of the works of earlier centuries, the newly educated class of writers also set a trend. The Brlttsh Museum Catalogue of Tamil Books reveals among the

,.Di.zed by

Google

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

- : ;_�·: :.:};::·�·::.:.:::\/.'.::F�:.�.:.: ,;-: ..

..... 46

�- . ..: ;:

��f . .. ...iI.�i ...

' ' .,,

.. ............ � ""'"'• ..• .:o.. ....,.,.__.,_, .;,_..,._., ..._ ,. .,J;.....-.�-�·xt'i..... 4 ,;

........,.

..

,.-J.:J......,....,.,.. 11rw.:i..,.�,31N1-o'}•. ,

'*-'--'•• .,.. .; ,, ,._.;.,H ._ ., •; � ........ •.'4 J.., .. ·-�:t ........ lk ,,o,

::..:;:.·��-.. �

�ii·{;I'\jfifI ������$; -�I I :·3"�-�_;

..� i-f ;•

lth.1,,u:akJ11 (n�u l,..._.,,.,·s Aru1nmy.

Google

UNI\IERSITYOFMICHIGAN

76/souni 1:-;01AN ORIGINS 01' PRINTING '

welter of entries bn traditional themes, quite a few works on Western science and social thinking. In 1850, Dr Schmidt wrote a Tamil work on the history of the world. Then, a Dr Carrol published in 1835, an algebra in Tamil. D-.ivid Solomon published a book on trigonometry (Konetra ganitam). Dr Green of the American Mission wrote and published books on human anatomy (1857), pharmacology, physics and chemistry. The anatomy book was well illustrated with detailed explanation9. Dr Green wrote an original treatise on the eye, hand, foot, eu: meant for literate Tamils to study. Percival's Tamil Pro11erbs with a translation in English published in 1870, is a monument of great enterprise. Dr Percival was also the distinguished· editor of the Dina Varthamani , a Tamil journal. · The typagraphical era had come to stay.

Tamil Magazines

The Dina Varthamani, just now mentioned, was the first Tamil weekly which made its first appearance in 1856-28 years after the first monthly appeared in 1831, and it is interesting to find that in a period of seventy years, 562 out of a total 703 periodicals had become defunct. This tally . has been n1ade · in an anide in the 1\.femoir of the ,\fadras library• Association, 1940, by Dr Ranganathan arid Mr Sivaraman: Only twenty of ·these periodicals have survived today. A sensational popular Tamil weekly v.·as Kumudam with over a six-lakh copies circulation per week. Anancla Vikatan, also a weekly, came next. It is true that both these journals maintained their readership by pandering to the taStes of the middle classes for tabloid information and sensational stories, and also they employed various dubious type faces and illustrations of suh�tandard quality. But the Deepavali and Pongal supplements of some of rhcse journals maintained a higher standard of production and are very popular with the public. TI1c great names of Subramania Bharati, the Tamil poet (1882-1921), Thlru V. Kalyanasundara Mudaliar ( 1883-1959), the editor of Desabakthan and Navasakthi, and R Krishnamurthy (1899-1955), the editor of Kalki, are memorable names in Tamil journalism. Lokopakar was edited by Parali S Nellaiappar. The journal known as Manikkodi, 1933-1938, was an avant-garde journal and is a milestone in the history of modem contemporary Tamil thought. Pudumai Pithan, Ku Pa Rajagopalan, N Pichamurthi are among those who belonged to the Manikkodi group. Manikkodi (1933) was a joint effort of a few avant-garde writers of the thinies of this century who were well exposed to European literature. The word Manikkodi means 'Beautiful flag', was an adaptation

Digi ti zed by

Google

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

DEVELOPMENr.i IN lllE NINETEFNlll CENllJRY: 'il

from Bharati's poem Tbayin Manikkodi The prime-movers of this weekly joumal-V Rarnasvami, K Srinivasan and T S Chokkalingam­ were lovers of Bharatl's works. The very first days' Manikkodi (17th September 1933) carried a striking definition of its title Manikkodi. "Manikkodi was sung by Bharat!, Manikkodi (flag) was held by Gandhi; ,11anikkodi hold:; aloft Congress ideologies; it is Manikkodi that has inspired . thousands of patriots to join the freedom movement. ,\lanikkodi is the sprout of the rising political consciousness of our people". The journal was vibrant with its lively Tamil pres.s. It fOStered . shon story writers like Pudurnai Pithan (SVriddhachalam, 1906-1948), Ku Pa Rajagopalan (1901-1944), N Picchamurti, BS Ramayya and others. The ftrst two are well-known names in Tamil literary world and the third one was known for blazing a·trail in modem Tamil poetry with Bharati's blank verse poetry ( Vacana Kavitai) as his model. N Picchamuni (1900-1977) was a very close friend o f Ku Pa Rajagopalan. BS Ramayya has written recently an autobiography (Manikkodi Kala1n, Manivachagar Noolagam, Madras, 1980), a moving account of the struggle Manikkodi had to make to survive even for few years of existence. As two of the three founders of this journal left Madras in. pursuit of better positions in the field of journalism, it could not sustain for long and stopped publication in the early part of 1938. Some of the writers, nourished by this, started their new journals and openly.declared their indebtednes.s to their early connection 'l\'ith Manikkodi and called it a Yugam-an era. Manikkodi's services in spreading Bharati, in introducing Bharatidasan to Tamil readers and in publishing humorous and satirical writings should be remembered in addition to its general appeal to the emerging Tamil· readers of later days.

lbe Grantham Script

We must take notice at this point of the curious development in Tamil rypography which forced itself on the printers ,because of a desire to reprint Sanskrit classics and religious works in Tamil script. The well­ knovvn Grantham script 'l\'as used to reproduce the Devanagari characters and today there are only three presses in Tamilnad v.+iich print books in this S alO••• Q....... l@••t11 ..IO!tll •• •IOti11 Lllii a.0•11 LIOL..L•INI jaflw11CA1." • Wlappadikaram"0 : "Silappadlkaram is the first Tamil epic we have 1oda� The story revolves round the anklet of Kannaki in trying to sell which, her husband was ordered to be killed by the Pandya Prince, on a charge of theft. When she came to know that he was killed, she flew into a righteous fury, proved her husband's innocence to the prince, burnt the City of Madurai and later became one of the celestials. The epic has a great heroine but no hero. The story is very simple and has absolutely n o involvement.Just because Prince Senguttu\"an 'l':a� introduced into the story of the third book of the epic which is in the nature of a later addition, Tamil lovers fondly contend that the \vhole story i s a historical narrative, forgetting that the epic was conceived by the poet with a definite purpose and is purely an imaginative romantic 1ragt·d,·. llangn. \\·a� a grc-;11 p l. qtK>ll·., Justice S Maharajan: "Kambar had behind him an unbroken poetic tradition of over a thousand years. He did not have the advantage, which the Tamil poetS of early spring had. Before his arrival, the Tamil language had been handled by scores of masters; while it was still malleable and responsive, the Sanghani poets had conferred upon the language a delicate reticence and austerity. Thiruvalluvar had given it a lucidity, precision and terseness. The Alvars and the Nayanmars had given the language an extraordinary suppleness and a warm and moving song quality. It appeared as if all the potentialities of the language had been thoroughly exploited before Kanlbar's genius gave to the language fresh powers of articulation and made it serve the pure perfection of poetry." The story of Ramayana is very well known to the ancient and medieval Tamils and references were found to the anecdotes from Rama's life in Si/appathigaram, Purananooru, A/var Padal and the commentaries of the �abandbam. Dr T P Meenakshisundaram Pillai, in his History of Tamil Literature, speaks of the popularity of Kanlbar, even in Kannada country. In Northern Kerala, marionette plays based on the anecdotes from Kt,mba Ramayana are enacted every year in the Siv;i and Kali temples, as pan of ritual SubramanJa Bbantl (1882-1921)

Between 1904 and 1917 is the period of first appearance in print of the great national poet Shri Subrarnan.ia Bharati. 1904 was the year when the Viveka Bhanu of Madurai published a poem by Bharati. Bharati himself published an d distributed free, in the year �907, a four-page pamphlet containing three of his national songs. In 1908, a pamphlet of 32pages at a mere two annas per copy, containing fourteen of his national songs, was published with a dedication to his Guru, Sister Nivedita, with a good foreword from the great Tamil scholar M Raghava Iyengar. In 1908, two politicalpamphlets explaining I.okamanya Tilak's point of view and describing the poet's panicipation in the 1907 Surat Congress, were published. In 1909 was published the Janma Bhoom� a collection of national songs with 14 songs

not included in the first edition, '\\';1s publishcS deli\'Crcd 1Yi' Dr Caldwell C:ildwdl marriLxl in lncfo :ind hi, w1!i.· "·'' .1 w,111hy hdpm:Ul' "h" '['k,kc· T:1111il tltK'lltly and 1..·nridKxl lwr tm,l,;11KI'.,; kn,!wkxli,:c ,,fTamil collllqui:tlism.,;. Dr Scthu l'ilbi's 1 !istury of Dr G1klwdl c11ti1lc'I.I C,ddu\•I! /1\·rg1w,; \'c1'}· intc'l'Cstu1g ,k1,11ls of his life I II� Co111p,mui1t· l:(m111111t1r of 1b,, l)ml'itlim1 /11111:(118. \X'orked for -16 years 111;1inl1· reponing on the lill:raf\· and cdurational needs of the people: ,,-rotJdlei:m Ubrny reco